Dylan fans flock to the Spring Green General Store for a Wisco-style Woodstock.
Bobfest began as an open mic at the Spring Green General Store 20 years ago — a way for Bob Dylan aficionados to celebrate his music when he was a Grammy winner but not yet a laureate.
But if past attendance at the annual Memorial Day weekend event is any indication, this year’s celebration of the Nobel Prize-winning singer/songwriter will draw a record-breaking crowd. Organizers anticipate 1,000 people will pull up their lawn chairs to the back porch of the homey store on May 28.
The music runs from 11 a.m. through 7 p.m., and includes 23 different musicians performing variations of the folk-rock icon’s music. The past two decades have increased the popularity of BobFest, but it has maintained a mellow vibe, in part because of the organizers’ laissez-faire philosophy. The only rule that is strictly enforced is no carry-ins. Admission is free, so the only revenue the store receives for putting on the festival is from the drinks, food and merchandise it sells.
“It is such a fun, relaxed, sort of simple event,” says Karin Dittmar Miller, the owner of the General Store, who also organizes BeatleFest each year on Labor Day. “Literally, it’s a party in the backyard.”
Mike McDougal, a Madison-area folk singer slated to perform with his wife Patty McDougal, likes to joke that the event is a tiny Woodstock: “We appreciate not just the musical aspect of it but the community and families that come to the event. We love it.”
This year’s special anniversary line-up includes a homecoming performance by Spring Green native Marty L’Herault, a Janesville-based garage-rock band made up of brothers called The Red Flags and Madison’s Ken Lonnquist performing with his group the ZimBobs.
“There really is something magical about hearing Dylan songs being played by such a diverse line-up of performers,” says Lonnquist.
Locally brewed Furthermore beer will be on tap, served in BobFest glasses. This year will also include three varieties of the Cider Farms organic hard cider. A themed menu titled Zimmerman’s Deli (Bob Dylan’s birth name was Robert Allen Zimmerman) will be served inside the General Store in take-out containers.
